R-r-r-rabbit! {Beginning Sound /r/}This idea was taken from the Education Center's Circle Time from A to Z. {I found a picture of a rabbit & printed it off onto card stock. One student closed her eyes and then another visibly "hid" the rabbit somewhere in the classroom. The rest of the class chants r-r-r-r-r softly if the searcher is far away and louder as the searcher grows closer.}

Working on the Railroad {Letter-Sound Association}This idea was taken from the Education Center's Circle Time from A to Z. {I cut out strips of black paper, wrote an R on each with white crayon. When it was a student's turn I read 2 words and if she repeated the word that began with an R, she was able to lay it down to build the railroad. Once the tracks were laid, we all lined up and formed a train. We walked over the tracks and "chugged" across the the train tracks.}

In the Box {Letter-Sound Association}This idea was taken from the Education Center's Circle Time from A to Z. {I had picture cards in a box that we passed around to each student. Each one needed to give clues about what was on the picture. If the picture of a raccoon was on top, they had to describe it: whiskers, looks like he is wearing a mask, striped tail, claws, etc. The student who guessed the word, "won" the card.}

Rain on the Roses {Letter Recognition}This idea was taken from the Education Center's Circle Time from A to Z. {We scattered the rose cards around the room (labeled mostly with uppercase & lowercase Rs). Students walked around the room and wiggled their fingers as if they were raining on the roses. The recited the phrase "Rain on the Roses" each time they found the letter R.}

It's Raining, It's Pouring {uppercase & lowercase letters}This idea was taken from the Education Center's Circle Time from A to Z. {Each student received 3-4 raindrops and, in turn, each student placed her letter in the correct category: the uppercase R or the lowercase r.}

We didn't make our necklaces this week, but we will at the beginning of next week!

Word Family of the Week:- ice

Question of the Week:Do you think the groundhog will see his shadow?

Words Their Way:Sort 11a: Introduction to compound words

Homework: Name Practice

Each student cut out the tiles that spell their first and last names on a copy of the homework page. Once they could rearrange the tiles pretty successfully to spell their names, they each glued the tiles on a paper, and practiced writing their name repeatedly using different writing utensils: pencils, markers, and crayons. This was the first time they may have been introduced to their last names and my older students picked up on it really quickly. The younger students gained an idea of what letters their name contains and had the most practice with spelling and writing their first names.

Each homework page was personalized for each student using the letters of their first and last name.

Reading Tip of the Day

Students will be informally assessed using Alpine School District's PreK Standards, found here. They will be evaluated in the fall, winter and at the end of the school year. These standards were based off the USOE standards that determine if students are ready for kindergarten.

Thanks to the following businesses and individuals who have donated to our preschool!